


Hanged Man

by Ignis_Aurum



Category: All Elite Wrestling
Genre: Extended Metaphors, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Introspection, Post-All Out, Unhappy Ending, kinda sorta not really - Freeform, lots of references to execution by hanging, there was supposed to be an actual fight in here but it didn't work out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26774131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ignis_Aurum/pseuds/Ignis_Aurum
Summary: Seeing Adam gasp and flounder with no one to put slack in the rope is painful in a way that’s hard to articulate, and the vindictive satisfaction he feels when Kenny, too, stands back and watches him fall does nothing to take the edge off that hurt.So he doesn’t look.He doesn’t look, and he doesn’t hurt, and he certainly doesn’t sigh in relief when Adam catches the edge of the gallows just before the light leaves his eyes.
Kudos: 10





	Hanged Man

**Author's Note:**

> This definitely didn't turn out the way I planned it to, but like, I'm not complaining.

Adam Page walks down the ramp with a noose strung about his neck, and even beyond the ring name, there’s something darkly fitting about it.

They call him Hangman, but he’s more like a hanged man at times, thrashing and choking even as they lift him up to get the pressure off his throat. Matt had hoped that when they let go, the rope would simply break his neck instead of strangle him, but of course he’s not that lucky.

Brandon, peacemaker that he is, tries to force the issue, and Matt swears that if he hears one more, “There’s something we need to talk about,” he’s going to superkick the man into next year, friendship be damned.

It’s not even really about the alcohol as much as it’s about his attitude. Matt’s no stranger to people who’d rather cut their losses and move on when things don’t work out, but he’s never met anyone as eager to do so before there’s any losses to cut as Adam. It’s inevitable to him—the betrayal, the breakup, whatever end of their partnership Adam’s been envisioning for months—so it’s safer not to wait for the trapdoor to open. He stepped into the noose before the verdict was even read, and they’ve been trying and failing to hold him back from the edge ever since. It makes Matt’s blood boil to think of how little faith Adam had in them, so sure of his morbid fantasy that he’s still blissfully unaware that they’d have kept holding him up until they could cut the rope if he’d just let them.

They let him fall because they had to, Matt reminds himself, and he’s not even going to pretend it was for his own good. But there’s a sick twist in his gut when he thinks of the hangman’s knot set at the base of Adam’s skull instead of behind the ear, wrenching up and back to crush his windpipe when it’s finally pulled taught.

Seeing Adam gasp and flounder with no one to put slack in the rope is painful in a way that’s hard to articulate, and the vindictive satisfaction he feels when Kenny, too, stands back and watches him fall does nothing to take the edge off that hurt.

So he doesn’t look.

He doesn’t look, and he doesn’t hurt, and he certainly doesn’t sigh in relief when Adam catches the edge of the gallows just before the light leaves his eyes.

Though he doesn’t look, he sees more than he lets on. Adam plays his own executioner, his legs still dangling off the platform, and tries to goad Brandon into playing the judge. Brandon, bless him, doesn’t bite, hooking a hand under the noose for just a second to loosen the knot and give him a little more breathing room, but that’s as far as he goes.

Adam’s safe, for now; he just needs to hold on until he can get his legs up and find his footing—find the part of him that exists outside of a team—but he’s too caught up in finding someone to either give him the slack he relied on for so long or pry his fingers off the edge of the platform to even think about cutting the goddamn rope. 

But if he falls again-

There’s that same sick twist in Matt’s gut when he considers the possibility that Adam’s grip will fail before he can pull himself back to solid ground. Or, he thinks with a grim resignation, that Adam will simply let go if no one offers their hand.

Someone should be there, ready with a knife when Adam drags himself up, or waiting to catch him before the rope pulls taught if he falls, but no one is. 

FTR, for all their talk, abandoned him as soon as they got what they wanted. Cody doesn’t really seem aware he’s still part of a stable. Kenny made his choice at All Out and seems content to return to singles. Brandon won’t get involved beyond trying to start a conversation no one wants to have. Nick avoids the topic entirely, still hurting from Revolution and everything since. And Matt…

Matt hates it more than he cares to admit, but if Adam’s going to keep living halfway off the gallows, he has to learn to do it alone.


End file.
